Savoy Big Five

The Savoy Big Five was the early version of the Harlem Globetrotters. This basketball team was created by Abe Saperstein in Chicago, 1926. It was named after Chicago's Savoy Theatre. The Savoy sponsored Abe Saperstein in return for naming the team the "Savoy Big Five". The teams players were William Grant, Lester Johnson, Tommy Brookings, Inman Jackson, Joe Lillard, Walter Wright, Randolph Ramsey, and William Watson.